In-Depth Preview posted for Nikon Coolpix 8800(UPDATED)By
Dave Etchells(Thursday, September 16, 2004 - 02:21 EDT)We've had hands-on with a prototype sample of Nikon's new flagship prosumer model, the Coolpix 8800, and have prepared an in-depth First Look at it.This is an impressive new camera, with a 10x optical zoom lens, an unusually effective *vibration reduction* system for surprisingly steady hand-held shooting, and the usual raft of features that make Nikon's high-end digicams such crowd-pleasers. Because we've only seen a prototype sample of the Coolpix 8800 at this point, we can't really make any comments on its image quality. - And since image quality is really the ultimate issue in a high-end digicam, this means that it's hard for us to draw any sort of a final conclusion about the camera as a whole.

That said though, we found the Coolpix 8800 to be a very appealing camera to work with. Apart from a few minor niggles, its controls and ergonomics were really just right, its long-ratio zoom lens was impressive, and its VR (Vibration Reduction) technology seemed unusually effective at reducing the effects of camera shake.

From a functional standpoint, the Coolpix 8800 looks to us like one of the best cameras Nikon's made to date. If its image quality lives up to the rest of its features, it will be a major player at the high end of the digicam marketplace.

Stay tuned, we'll have a full update for you as soon as we can get our hands on a production model to test! - And in the meantime, check out our detailed First Look for all the juicy operational details, including preliminary timing measurements! Check it out!UPDATED 2004-09-16 02:25ET: Our friends at the Digital Camera Resource Page have posted a first look at the Coolpix 8800, as have our friends at Steve's Digicams, so be sure to check both out after reading our own first-look!